The LoadOut Room: Guns & Gear Born Again Hard- Meet Your New Hosts

When Jack and I first launched the LoadOut Room we got it off to a great start, fumbled it with a bad business decision (we let an investor in–he’s out now),the site stalled on the shelf, and now we have finally recruited three hosts that we feel will take the site to the next level, where it belongs.

Of course you’ll see myself, Jack, and a few others now and then too…

The TEAM

The Loadout Room is contributed to and moderated and led by former US SOCOM Special Ops Operators, not some twenty-year old who doesn’t know the pointy end of a weapon. Bottom line is that the Loadout Room editors stake their own reputations their reviews.

The guys that moderate this site have been down range and in harms way. We know what it’s like to get shot at, IED’d and more importantly, what it’s like to have your life depend on the quality of your gear and weapons. Lifetime guarantees don’t mean shit when you exit the ramp door at 18,000 feet in the dark of the night.

Meet Your Hosts

Eric Davis is a former US Navy SEAL, sniper instructor, and an expert in human performance.

As a life-long gear nut he enjoys writing about reliable kit that makes a difference in our everyday lives, and passing on this knowledge to the LoadOutRoom community.

He is working on his first book, with former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb, about applying Special Operations lessons learned to parenting.

Eric is the founder of AverageFrog.com, and also a contributor on NavySEALs.com and SOFREP.com. You can follow Eric on twitter at @EricDavis215. He lives in southern California with his family.

Nicholas Irving is a former U.S. Army Ranger with multiple combat deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. During his service within the 75th Ranger Regiment, Nicholas served as an Assaulter, Heavy and Light Machine Gunner, and Designated Marksman.

His proudest and most notable position was serving as Sniper. During his time in the Sniper Section, Nicholas attended and completed multiple Sniper Schools and Courses such as U.S. Army Sniper School, Long Ranger Sniper Course, High Angle Sniper Course, and Extreme Range Sniper Course. While his time within the Sniper Section, Nicholas also served as Sniper Team Leader, Squad Leader, and Master Sniper.

During a deployment in 2009-2010 as a Sniper, Nicholas earned the nickname “The Reaper,” after achieving a large number of enemy kills on a short 3 ½ month deployment, making him the deadliest sniper in 3rd Ranger Battalion. Not only is he the deadliest, a little known fact about Nicholas is that he is also the first African American Sniper to serve in 3rd Ranger Battalion.

Nicholas has received a variety of awards throughout his time deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. One of his proudest awards is the Valorous ARCOM Medal, which he received after a sniper mission where he found his element in a close ambush in Afghanistan. Nicholas successfully eliminated enemy targets, not only with his rifle, but by also calling in close air support where 105mm rounds landed less than 100 yards away from his team. His actions saved the lives of 5 men.

After his time in the 75th Ranger Regiment, Nicholas worked in Iraq as a private contractor.

Nicholas has since moved on with his career, where he currently instructs individuals in the art of precision rifle, carbine, shotgun, and pistol. His clientele includes members of JSOC, various SWAT teams around the U.S., D.O.D. members, etc. He has recently taken his special skill set abroad, instructing Special Operations members in Finland, Estonia, and other countries.

Nicholas also runs and owns his own website and shooting school, HardShoot, and is a contributing writer for the website SOFREP.com.

When Nicholas is not on the shooting range, he is putting his time in Battalion and in combat on paper, and for the LoadOutRoom. He has self-published three books, Team Reaper and Precision Rifle B.I.B.L.E., volumes 1 and volume 2. He is currently working on another book with St. Martin’s Press.

A proud member of the Tactical Beard Owners Club, Sergei graduated from Adam Mickiewicz University with a BA in Information Science (Social Media and Open-Source Intelligence), and from The Higher Banking School with an MA in Management Psychology (War on Terror as part of Political Marketing in the US after 9/11).

He is currently leading a quiet life as Polish Army reservist, Sergei’s main fields of study include: Psychology in Propaganda, Information Security, Open-Source Intelligence, Information Analysis, Conflicts in the Caucasus.

Sergei enjoys writing about gear and sharing his expertise with the LOR community.

Pulling Punches

Not us. This site doesn’t pull punches out of fear of advertising sponsor backlash. The truth is, a lot of print magazines and gear sites let their advertisers call the shots when it comes to decisions on what to post and what to say. Insanity! While we promote great relationships with our sponsors and industry, the tail does not wag the dog in The Loadout Room. The other painful fact is that there are a lot of sites writing about gear and guns and that just don’t have a clue. Most the people on these sites have never left the comfort of their living room couch let alone stepped outside the wire.

Hard core guns and gear born again hard.

So welcome to the Loadout room friend, pull up an ammo can, pop open a cold beverage and join us for great conversation about gear we love.

About the Author

Brandon Webb
is a former Navy SEAL, and combat veteran, with deployments to Afghanistan, and Iraq. His last tour he served as Chief Petty Officer & Naval Special Warfare sniper Course Manager. He is the founder of Hurricane Media, a Dad to three amazing kids, Experimental Pilot, and New York Times bestselling author. His books include his bestselling memoir, The Red Circle, Among Heroes, Benghazi: The Definitive Report, The Killing School, The Power of Thought, and Total Focus.

Comments

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Here's a sample of the comments on this post.

Minou_Demimonde

Is it odd that I never thought of Nick as being African-American? I just thought of him as being Nick. But then I'm kind of color-blind when it comes to human beings. Cool knows no racial boundaries.

SleazyWeazel

Recommending guns and gear free of bias THAT WORK not only informs the public, but helps those who truly rely on it to save their lives within the military as well as law enforcement. I look forward to the straight-forward scoop on all of the latest and greatest......that work. :)

flhtse05 Here's what I would buy:
http://www.sealedmindset.com/products/
Four Candid Reasons.
1) My friend bought one - I held it - I loved it. Looked good felt good.
2) Larry Yatch is a Naval Academy Engineer / Knuckle dragger team guy and he designed this thing.
3) Larry Yatch is one of my nearest and dearest friends - So I would buy it just to support him. (Full disclosure no B.S agenda here).
4) As a Sniper instructor with access to over a dozen high-end rifles at any given time - when asked which one was my favorite? My reply was always the same. "My favorite gun is the one I was last shooting and have become comfortable with".
Guns are things we form relationships with!

dickftr

You Men may recognize some names on the USA team's at www.baldeaglesrc.org , team coach and a couple more

dickftr

To Nick , Eric and Bart, Is there any chance of the Loadout room fielding a team to compete in F class long range in Phoenix AZ, USA national competition, in 2014?
Nick,thank you for the tip's; straight behind the rifle reduced the bipod hop. That improved my scores (X).